Best Buys

Here I will share all the best products and resources that I have found to support my autistic children from clothing, to toys and books. I will also add any websites or links to apps I have found helpful for home education.

Fidget Toy

I saw this fidget controller on Tik Tok and immediatley knew I wanted to get one for my daughter's 12th birthday. She loves poppets but this one lights up and is a game all in one!

Great for developing executive functioning skills such as working memory, attention and cognitive development. Just as important is it is fun and stimulating!

I have provided an Amazon link but take a look around for best prices/models.

https://tinylink.net/sT0Ze

Comfortable and age appropriate clothing

One of the things I have found difficult when dressing my eleven year old daughter is appropriate clothing as Isabelle may be eleven but maturity wise she is more like eight. This has meant I have not wanted her to dress too old and also she needs to feel comfortable.

isabelle does not like wearing leggings and prefers lighter materials like cotton. I have been shocked at some of the clothing available as I cannot tell when shopping now where the kids clothing ends and adults starts! Alot of the tops seem to be cropped and shoret which personally I don't like as well as not being comfortable for Isabelle. I recently ordered some lovely clothes off of Marks and Spencer at really good prices. They have a pure cotton range which are soft and light and comfortable for playing in as well as being fashionable and pretty.

They had packs of three cycle shorts for £12 and T shirts for £6 and were very good quality.

Here is the link:

https://www.marksandspencer.com/l/kids/girls/tops?filter=Material%3DCotton%7CPure%20cotton

Kanoodle Learning Resource

This is another Tik Tok find and another birthday gift I will be purchasing! It's called Kanoodle and is a bit like tetris. You start with one piece on the grid and then you have to fit all the other shapes around it. Again it is brilliant for cognitive development, problem solving skills and working memory.

I try to bget things for Isabelle's birthday that I know she can make use of as if I buy her toys I know she doesn't play with them so thing's like this are great as it's fun but she is learning at the same time.

Here is the Amazon link:

https://tinylink.net/j5bci

Home Education resource

This book has been great for home educating. isabelle loves maps and learning about different countries' facts and flags. There are lots of different activities that range from drawing, colouring to mark making. I printed some pictures online to complete some of the pages with Isabelle as she struggles with her hand writing so I made sure she could still find the activities fun and wanted to engage with them. It also led to her wanting to look online at the countires and we looked up animals that lived in different parts of the world.

As I always say adapt the resource to suit you child's interests and needs.

https://tinylink.net/EuBO6

How are you feeling today book written by Molly Potter.

Book about feelings

I found this book in a local charity shop and is a really good find. Retails normally for about £8 but currently £6.50 sale price at WHSmith which I have added the link for:

https://bit.ly/42JwoM5

This book talks about feelings and what children can do when they feel happy, sad, shy etc.

Fast Fish (colour matching game)

Another great charity shop find at only £2, retails at about £10.

My daughter loved this game. You set out all the fish, roll three dice and have to find the sea creature that has the same colours as the dice. Excellent for working memory, colour matching and turn taking.